While there is no way to really answer that question, a Chambersburg man hopes his new group on near-death experiences will shed light on the possibilities, and maybe give some people comfort that their loved ones are OK.

Robert Cook will host the first meeting of the Franklin County Chapter of the International Association for Near Death Studies at 7 p.m. March 9 at Besore Memorial Library in Greencastle. The guest speaker will be a psychology professor named Neil Helm of Virginia, who had a near-death experience as a child but does not believe in an "other side" as an adult.

Cook's journey studying near-death experiences began in September 2010, when his wife of 42 years was diagnosed with cancer and told she had four months to live. He bought a lot of books about near-death experiences and read to her every day until she died the following January.

She would say, "I know I'm going somewhere, I know I'm going to live beyond this life, but where am I going and what's it going to be like?" Cook recalled.

He spent the year after her death lost in the dark, and started going to local meetings of the International Association for Near Death Studies where he lived in Utah. He has gone on to read some 2,000 stories about people who passed on and returned to life. When he moved to Chambersburg four years ago, he was disappointed to find no local chapter. So, he decided to start his own.

Common threads

Many reports of near-death experiences share similarities, Cook said. He believes this is evidence that there is an "other side" where people go after death.

They are things many people have probably heard before: a bright light, a tunnel and a guide (usually a passed-on loved one), and one's life flashing before their eyes.

Cook said that last one, the "life review," is most fascinating to him.

"We are permitted to see our lives from beginning to end, and we experience every feeling, every emotion, every thought we had, as we see our life in panorama.

"Then - and this is the mind-blowing part of it - we go back and we do it again, but this time we feel it from the point of view of (other people in our lives). We know what they experienced, what they felt as we have that exchange with them."

People who come back often report having felt total acceptance, total love and total peace, Cook said.

"It's because of this sense of compassion and love that are so prevalent there that when people who have died and are told, 'not yet you have to go back,' they are reluctant to."

Those who have gone through these things usually come back changed people, Cook said.

But for all the commonalities, a near-death experience is tailored to the individual going through it, Cook said. A child's experience will be different from an adult's, for example; a Christian and a person of another religion, or of no religion at all, will comprehend the experience in their own ways.

Believers and non-believers welcome

Cook hopes next week's meeting is the first of many. If enough people show up, and there is enough continued interest, he plans to host meetings once a month.

Cook cautioned against anyone coming to the meeting expecting to confirm their beliefs, whether in support of or against near-death experiences and an after life. He also does not want anyone to use what they learned to try to force someone to believe that near-death experiences are real or that there is life after death.

"It's a fascinating subject. It can be a very comforting subject, but it is not proof of anything. It just isn't."

Some argue that the things people see in a near-death experience are merely due to chemical reactions in the brain as death approaches, Cook said. He said people are welcomed to believe that, he's just not one of them.

"My hope and goal is that there will be a sense of open mindedness about this experience, and those who are looking for it will find comfort in knowing that there really is something on the other side and have an idea of what that something is."

For more information about the local chapter or the first meeting, contact Cook at 801-884-6477 or robertcook4@yahoo.com.